EDITORIAL: Around the nation

Los Angeles Times on the secretary of defense nomination of former Sen. Chuck Hagel:

In choosing former Sen. Chuck Hagel as secretary of Defense, has President Barack Obama made an "in your face" appointment, as Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., complains? Perhaps. Given criticism of Hagel by supporters of Israel and gay rights groups, his nomination was guaranteed to be controversial. So why did he do it? After deciding not to nominate Susan Rice as secretary of state in the face of GOP opposition, the president may have been determined not to surrender to criticism a second time.

But fascinating as the politics around the nomination may be, now that Hagel has been nominated, the only question for the Senate to decide is whether he is qualified to serve.

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In scrutinizing Hagel's nomination, senators aren't supposed to ask whether the nominee is the person they would appoint if they were president. The proper question is whether the president's appointee is qualified for the position, ethically upright and free of extreme views. If so, the president's choice should be confirmed -- "in your face" or not.

The Des Moines Register on more Obama administration secrecy:

Critics of the Obama administration's expanded use of pilotless drone aircraft to kill alleged terrorists abroad have been assured that the strikes are justified and legal. Yet, when The New York Times and the American Civil Liberties Union asked for detailed evidence of the government's legal arguments, they were told that is a national security secret.

Recently, a federal judge ruled in the administration's favor, though even she expressed exasperation.

This is hard to take from a president who, as a candidate, promised to do a better job than the previous occupant of the White House in making important government information available to the American people. It is also hard to take from a president who has kept in place many of the war-on-terror tactics he found troubling or offensive when they were practiced by President George W. Bush.

The president obviously believes the attacks are morally and legally justified. He should release all legal justifications produced by his administration or explain to the American people why that cannot be shared with them.

El Dorado (Ark.) News-Times, on a Joe Biden C-SPAN reality show:

Move over, Kim Kardashian. Step aside, Donald Trump. Make way, Honey Boo Boo. It seems there may be another reality show superstar waiting in the wings -- our own vice president, Joe Biden. And no, we're not kidding.

Biden, it so happens, is the subject of a new petition posted on the White House website which calls for the politician to have his own reality show on the television news network C-SPAN.

The former senator from Delaware has been well known for his quirky remarks and bright, ready smile throughout his tenure in Washington, but it was his comments caught on camera during the swearing in of the 113th Congress that caught the attention of Internet surfers. While welcoming the senators and their families, Biden exchanged jokes and off-beat remarks with them as they posed for photos. He has also appeared on the NBC sitcom "Parks and Recreation," and was once caught by a live mic telling Obama before an official address that passage of health-care reform was "a big (expletive) deal." He also singlehandedly made "malarkey" one of the most looked-up words of 2012 by using it in a vice presidential debate.